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Eye-Fi for Sigma

toisondor

Well-Known Member
It has happened too often that after a photo shoot that I think went pretty well, that I discover some problem as soon as I open the RAW files full size on a computer. I slap my hand on my forehead and ask myself, "Why didn't I notice that shadow on her nose before" or "if only I had adjusted the exposure or DOF" etc. (This may reveal too much about my amateur status, but there you have it.)

When I saw someone else using the Eye-Fi wireless memory card, I realized just how useful it could be for these situations. Of course, I wondered about compatibility with the SD14. Since the Eye-Fi comes only in the SD format, a CF adapter is required and Eye-Fi doesn't currently provide support for any CF implementations. Research revealed that not all adapters work, and that different Eye-Fi cards have different capabilities.

The Eye-Fi Pro cards have the two functions I was most interested in:

1) wireless transfer of RAW images (X3F is supported by Eye-Fi)
2) connection directly to my laptop's ad hoc wireless network

Here's what I learned:

View attachment 2001

I originally purchased the 8Gb X2 Pro Eye-Fi card and the Synchrotech adapter (yellow). When I plugged them into my SD14, all I got was the message "No CF Card in Camera." No way to shoot, reformat, anything. I bought the two other adapters and the results were the same.

Then I tried the 4Gb Pro card and it worked perfectly in all three adapters.

I'm in the process of returning the 8Gb card and the extra adapters. The advantage of the X2 card is that it is supposed to be much faster, so I was hoping to take advantage of that. Too bad. I just could not get the SD14 to recognize the presence of the 8Gb X2 Pro card.

As for the adapters, they seem identical, except that when you insert the SD card in the Synchrotech or the Jobo adapters, there is a nice click and to release the SD card, you push it in slightly and it pops out of the slot. For the non-branded blue one, the SD card just slides in and slides out (no click or spring-loaded release). I think the blue was was a few $ cheaper.

Setting up my laptop with a wireless ad hoc network was pretty easy, although at one point I did need a little advice and a few minutes of friendly phone support with Eye-Fi got me up and running.

Now, when I shoot a frame on my SD14, the RAW file automatically appears in a dated directory on my laptop and I can immediately get a full-size look at the shot. It does take about 30 seconds for an X3F file to transfer, so it's not instantaneous. But it means I can take a handful of shots, start checking them out on my laptop without interrupting the session, make adjustments, and keep shooting.

I haven't really tested to see how far away you can be from the laptop, but it worked fine at about 5 meters. I need to spend more time with it to see if it will meet up to my expectations, but I do think it will help me streamline and improve some of my work.

Jesse
 

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Jesse....are you running the latest version of the camera firmware....you should be running 1.08....I had that problem with 8gig Extreme III until I went to the 1.08 version..now the camera does not see a 16gig card but it will see my extreme III & IV now....

I am interested in seeing how you like the newer Eye-Fi cards...I bought the 2gig a while back...and tried them out...figured out a way to make them work with RAW and transfer to a laptop....but it was really slow...so I abandoned that...but if you can let me know how the newer cards are I love the concept...so if the 8gig works faster than 30 sec...that might be something to re-visit....

Just in case....SD-14 Firmware Update Page

Thank you for the info...

Tony C. :z04_cowboy:
 
Yes, my firmware is already 1.08, so that's not the answer.

To be sure, faster would be better, and it would also be nice if SPP would update automatically as new files show up. I am thinking of writing a script that will extract the jpgs and throw them up on the screen as they appear. That would be another way of streamlining things during the shoot.

These cards may still need one or two generations of refinement before they are everything we can imagine (and my imagination can be pretty demanding!)

Jesse
 
+1 to that....but since the SD15 will be using SD cards instead of CF that 16 gig'er might work well in it...

Good Luck.... Tony C.:z04_cowboy:
 
Beware with some adapters that you find for less money, often theses are not beiong recognized by the camera.
So far I am lucky and using w/o any problems:

Sandisk 2-4-8GB Extreme III and Sandisk Adapter CF-to-SD
ExtremMemory 2-8GB SD and CF cards
Delock CF-to-SD Adapter
 
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